FC Barcelona outlasts Budivelnik Kiev in the paint

A fast-paced game saw host FC Barcelona take a 96-77 home win over Budivelnik Kiev in the closing game of the Tuskih Airlines Euroleague regular season on Thursday night. In the first half, Barca dominated and managed to run in offense combined with good accuracy from the arc, but DaJuan Summers and Ricky Minards combined efforts to put Budivelnik at 7 points, 73-66, starting the last quarter. It was then when Maciej Lampe and Marcelinho Huertas appeared to put the win in ice for Barcelona. Lampe led the winners with 16 points, Ante Tomic added 15, Bostjan Nachbar posted 13 and three players ended with 10 points apiece: Huertas, Joey Dorsey and Erazem Lorbek. For Budivelnik, Summers had 17 points, Darjus Lavrinovic added 16, Minard contributed 15 and Janis Strelnieks bagged 11. Barcelona ends the regular season with a 7-3 record and Budivelnik, who will now continue the season in the Eurocup, end slast in Group A with a 2-8.

First quarter: Barcelona big men dominate first 10 minutes

Both teams started the game looking to the paint. Ante Tomic and Darjus Lavrinovic traded baskets for FC Barcelona and Budivelnik Kiev, respectively. Great defense by Alex Abrines allowed him to steal the ball and Marcelinho Huertas had an easy layup, only replied by Lavrinovic from the arc, 7-7. Tomic was winning the paint battle in offense while the guests crashed to a defensive Barca wall. In offense, Barcelona tried to ran and move the ball fast and it was paying off with a 15-9 in minute 5. After timeout, big men Joey Dorsey and Erazem Lorbek stepped on court to try to base the game of the hosts even more in the paint. Juan Carlos Navarro's second three put the difference in double digits, 21-11, while Ricky Minard and Blake Ahearn tried to keep Budivelnik in the game but Dorsey, with a dunk and two straight dunks made sure the first quarter ended 25-15 for the hosts.

Second quarter: A fast game to please fans

Janis Strelnieks opened the quarter with a three from the corner, but Brad Oleson replied in the same fashion. Dorsey was still blocking shots under theglass and the hosts ran to make it 30-18 forcing a new Budivelnik timeout. When Budivelnik had patience, it found open shots like Dajuan Summers, but then Jacob Pullen moved the ball on the other end and even Lorbek hit straight threes for 38-23. Minard appeared for five straight points but Lorbek was catching up fast after so many weeks out due to injury with his trademark classy moves in offense. The hosts were shooting 9 of 10 in the quarter while Budivelnik had only four fouls in 16 minutes allowing Barca to increase the lead to 46-29. Budivelnik survived from free throws in the last stretch of the second quarter while Huertas nailed a new three, making it 6 for Barca (its game average this season) for a 54-38 at the break.

Third quarter: Summers and Minard keep Budivelnik in the loop

The second half opened with Bostjan Nachbar missing a three but putting back his own miss with a dunk for Barca. Summers and Strelnieks hit uncontested points to give new life to Budivelnik but Nachbar used his experience to keep his team on the safe side, scoring from all positions and with a nice display of moves. On the other hand, Summers and Minard combined in offense to lead Budivelnik to a new 10-point lead, 65-55. Jacob Pullen broke the spell from the arc for Barcelona, but Minard and Summers were relentless in trying to keep the guests in the game and, after Tomic's free throw, the score was 73-62 after 30 minutes with a 19-24 partial score for the guests in the quarter.

Fourth quarter: Lampe appears and seals the deal

A 0-4 to start allowed Budivlenik to cut the deficit down to 7 points, 73-66. The hosts seemed to have lost the concentration from the first half, but with Huertas back on the floor, intensity and patience came back and the team played more fluent. Huertas also blasted a three but Oleksandr Tishchenko hit his first three of the season to keep up, 80-69. A new assist from Navarro to Maciej Lampe showed that the hosts had returned to their former self of the first half. Barcelona was up to 19 assists at this point and was also dominating the boards, 32-21. Lavrinovic appeared again with two straight baskets in the paint, but a new Lampe three for 87-73 was setting the game up for conclusion as there was no time for more.

Players

NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS

FC Barcelona

"The Top 16 will be complicated. We would have the same options for the Final Four in either group. They stopped us a little when they turned to a zone defense, but we still scored 96 points. We have to improve in defense now. When you don't play good defense you can win if you excel in offense, what we did today. Recoveringplayers like Erazem and Brad is only good news for this team. They are important to us."

LAMPE, MACIEJ

FC Barcelona

"We didn't play continuous. Had ups and downs. We played well in offense not so much in defense. We are recovering players and now we are really building the team. Our group in the Top 16 will be long. It's not necessarily what we wanted because we must always fight for the top. For teams like us, things get complicated in the Top 16, we will have to show our true face. I am happy to be in Barcelona in such a great club."